Suzie Boss
Educational Leadership.
September 2009
Projects help students approach learning in real-world terms. But to launch successful projects, teachers must develop their own 21st century skills.
Two years ago, West Virginia teacher Deb Austin Brown turned her classroom at Alban Elementary School in St. Albans, into a bustling communications center. Clocks keep track of time on several continents, reminding students that they are part of a global community. News feeds bring in updates from around the world. Student teams produce and broadcast a daily news show, publish a newspaper, and tackle other projects in which they apply reading, writing, speaking, and thinking skills to real-world creations.
Brown designed the communications center project to help her students develop 21st century skills. Her curriculum redesign was part of a statewide push "to get kids to be big-picture thinkers, collaborators, and problem solvers," she explains. Before designing the center, Brown had taught language arts for more than 30 years and often incorporated projects. But shifting to the real-world, project-based approach required Brown herself to apply some new skills.
Two years ago, West Virginia teacher Deb Austin Brown turned her classroom at Alban Elementary School in St. Albans, into a bustling communications center. Clocks keep track of time on several continents, reminding students that they are part of a global community. News feeds bring in updates from around the world. Student teams produce and broadcast a daily news show, publish a newspaper, and tackle other projects in which they apply reading, writing, speaking, and thinking skills to real-world creations.
Brown designed the communications center project to help her students develop 21st century skills. Her curriculum redesign was part of a statewide push "to get kids to be big-picture thinkers, collaborators, and problem solvers," she explains. Before designing the center, Brown had taught language arts for more than 30 years and often incorporated projects. But shifting to the real-world, project-based approach required Brown herself to apply some new skills.
To read the article, click on this link http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/Managing_Messy_Learning.aspx
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